INDIANAPOLIS — Matt Cassel finally figured out how to beat the Colts on Sunday.
He used the unbeatable combination of Dwayne Bowe’s size and Steve Breaston’s elusiveness.
Cassel threw four touchdown passes — two each to Bowe and Breaston — to rally the Chiefs from a 17-point deficit to a 28-24 victory over winless Indianapolis.
“He is a guy I trust with all my heart — and the ball,” Cassel said of Bowe. “Then you get Steve Breaston, who continues to make so many plays. They complement each other very well. If you’re going to double one, you can’t double the other.”
Kansas City’s comeback was the largest since Todd Haley took over as coach in 2009 and rekindled images of how the Chiefs (2-3) won the AFC West last season.
Cassel was an efficient 21-of-29 for 257 yards with a rating of 138.9.
Bowe caught seven passes for 128 yards and simply outmuscled the much smaller Jacob Lacey for many of them. Breaston caught four passes for 50 yards but made a spectacular effort to get into the end zone at the end of the first half and a terrific move against a backup cornerback to give the Chiefs their only lead with 5:15 left in the game.
Jackie Battle also ran 19 times for 119 yards, enough to give the Chiefs their first win at Indy.
“We just started doing things better,” coach Todd Haley said. “That’s three weeks in a row with strong second halves. That’s our conditioning and hard work paying off in our favor. We did a good job wearing them out.”
Indy, one of three winless teams left in the league, is 0-5 for the first time since 1997 and has lost five straight for the first time in a decade.
Saints 30, Panthers 27
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Drew Brees found Pierre Thomas wide open on the right side for a 6-yard touchdown with 50 seconds left to lift New Orleans (4-1).
Brees threw for 359 yards and two touchdowns, including a nearly flawless final drive in which he completed 8-of-9 passes for 80 yards to take back momentum after Cam Newton and the Panthers (1-4) had taken their first lead early in the fourth quarter.
49ers 48, Buccaneers 3
SAN FRANCISCO — Alex Smith threw two of his three touchdown passes to Vernon Davis and Frank Gore ran for a score in his second straight 100-yard rushing game for San Francisco (4-1).
Carlos Rogers returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown, and tight ends Davis and Delanie Walker each caught TD passes of 20-plus yards in San Francisco’s third straight win since blowing a late lead in a Sept. 18 overtime loss to the Cowboys.
Josh Freeman never found the flow that made him so effective in the rout here last November, and the Bucs (3-2) were a step behind in a short week after beating the Colts on Monday night.
Seahawks 36, Giants 25
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst threw a go-ahead 27-yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin, and Brandon Browner returned an interception 94 yards to clinch Seattle’s win.
Whitehurst, who replaced the injured Tarvaris Jackson in the third quarter, led the Seahawks (2-3) on an 80-yard TD drive, which he capped with his pass to a wide-open Baldwin with 2:37 left on a play that the Giants (3-2) seemed to stop after defensive end Osi Umenyiora jumped offside.
The Giants, who had staged fourth-quarter rallies to win their last two games, mounted another late drive and had first-and-goal at the Seahawks 5 after consecutive completions of 41 and 19 yards to Victor Cruz.
A procedure penalty on first down pushed the ball back to the 10. Then Eli Manning’s pass tipped off Cruz’s hands, bounced off Kam Chancelor and was picked off at the 6 by Browner.
Bengals 30, Jaguars 20
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Andy Dalton threw two touchdown passes and Bernard Scott scored on a 2-yard run with 1:56 remaining for Cincinnati (3-2).
The Bengals took advantage of Matt Turk’s 22-yard punt into the wind to set up the winning score, a touchdown needed because Mike Nugent missed an extra point in the first half.
Steelers 38, Titans 17
PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger tied a team record with five touchdown passes — including two to Hines Ward — as Pittsburgh ended Tennessee’s three-game winning streak.
Vikings 34, Cardinals 10
MINNEAPOLIS — Adrian Peterson powered in for three first-quarter TDs to build a lead large enough even Minnesota (1-4) couldn’t lose it.
The Associated Press
